


Habibi

by Just_here_for_a_laugh



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Super Sons (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics)
Genre: Awkward Crush, Awkward Love Confessions, Bat Family, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Crush confessions, Cute, Damian Wayne Feels, Damian Wayne Has Feelings, Damian Wayne Has a Crush, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne Speaks Arabic, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Damian Wayne is Robin, Damijon - Freeform, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson is a Good Brother, Dick Grayson is a Ray of Sunshine, First Crush, Fluff, Get Together, Get together fic, Happy Ending, I like that that is a tag, Jason Todd Has Feelings, Jason Todd Has a Heart, Jason Todd is a Batfamily Member, Jason Todd is a good brother, Jon Kent does not speak Arabic, Jon in fairness does actually try to hug him without much luck, Jonathan Kent is a ray of sunshine, Love Confessions, M/M, Pet Names, Requited Crush, Secret Crush, Some angst, Super Sons - Freeform, Tim Drake (Mentioned) - Freeform, a little bit of Damian Wayne angst, and also just a good guy, batfam, coming and going via the windows, its a Wayne boy trait, middle school emotional confusion, so is hiding your emotions, terms of endearment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23569078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Just_here_for_a_laugh/pseuds/Just_here_for_a_laugh
Summary: When Damian accidentally calls Jon "habibi," he panics and tells him it means friend, which is not technically a lie. However, when Jon starts unwittingly using the term of endearment, things get a little more complicated
Relationships: Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jonathan Kent, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne, Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne
Comments: 56
Kudos: 920





	Habibi

“What does ‘habibi’ mean?” Damian froze. “What?”

  
“‘Habibi,’” Jon repeated, “what does it mean?”

  
“Where did you hear that?” Damian asked, trying to appear nonchalant. Jon looked at him in confusion.

  
“From you! Just now. You asked me to hand you that pencil and when I did you said ‘Thanks habibi.’”

  
“No I didn't.” Damian croaked. There was no way he had said that. No way. Sure he might have thought it, and maybe he had thought it a few times, but he was far too in control of himself to have said something so ludicrous out loud.

  
“Yeah, you did.” Jon replied.

  
“No, I didn’t!” Damian reaffirmed adamantly.

  
“Oh yeah? Then how come I can even say habibi if I don’t know what it means?” came the rebuttal. He had a point. Damian swore under his breath. The two were sitting in the screening room of Wayne Manor lounging on the couches. While Jon had been trying to beat a new level on his video game, Damian had been sketching in one of his notebooks. He’d been so lost in the drawing and trying to decide which pencil to do the shading in that he must have let his guard down. He could have kicked himself at the realization. He’d been careless, and now he’d gotten himself exactly where he had never wanted to be.

  
“Damian?” Jon asked again, snapping the boy in question out of his internal scolding. “What’s it mean?” Damian’s mind raced to supply an answer.

  
“Friend.” He said, wincing slightly. Jon beamed.

  
“Really?” he asked with that characteristic glee of his. He was about as sunny as the star that powered him Damian thought briefly, before discarding the notion. Damian nodded, and inwardly noted that in a sense he was in fact telling the truth. Jon grinned at his friend and Damian could tell he wanted to address this new level of closeness that Damian had accidentally introduced, which probably meant Jon would try to hug him any moment now. Sure enough within seconds the boy’s arms were outstretched and he was moving towards his young partner in crime. Or partner in justice as it was. His chest was met with an outstretched arm, blocking him from coming any closer.

  
“Please desist.” Damian said. In the early days of their relationship such a command would have been dripping with rage and disgust, but after years of being partners and being friends the words came out merely monotonous. Jon laughed and reached out as far as he could against the blockade. He managed to tap Damian’s nose with a grin.

  
“Boop!” He laughed, and Damian rolled his eyes. “Be as frosty as you want Dami, but you just called me a pet name.” Damian growled and Jon stepped back with a laugh. While it was true that the pair were friends, Damian did not often go around announcing their friendship of his own volition. He usually cited some excuse about frivolity or the weakness of sentimentality, but the truth was that both boys knew that they were friends and didn’t need the constant reassurance. But even though he knew they were friends it still made Jon happy when his typically aloof partner opened up. What he didn’t know however, and what Damian was determined to keep secret from him, was that friendship was not all that Damian felt.

  
“Whatever.” Damian said gruffly, turning to go back to his sketchbook.

  
“You know it’s true,” Jon said smugly, “habibi.”

  
Damian was extremely grateful that from behind him Jon could not see the blush on his cheeks.

  


  


A few weeks passed and Jon did not stop using the newfound pet name. Whether in hero uniform or middle school uniform, the word lilted though his voice freely. At first Damian had been embarrassed, pushing Jon up against the lockers and hissing not to call him that. But Jon, as radiant as ever, had only laughed and told him not to worry.

  
“It’s Arabic right?” he asked. Damian blinked.

  
“Yes.”

  
“Okay, well how many seventh and eighth graders in this school do you know who speak Arabic?”

  
“None.” Damian scoffed. He was very familiar with the local lack of understanding when it came to his culture.

  
“Right.” Jon smiled. “So none of them know what it means. They all probably think its a nickname like how everybody in Mrs. Richardson’s class calls Alex Shapiro ‘Trekker.’”

  
“Why do they call him Trekker?” Damian asked, suddenly confused.

  
“Because one time when Mrs. Richardson was in the hall talking to Ms. Forrest, he blocked the door, stacked the chairs and climbed them like a mountain, shouting that he was the best mountain trekker to ever live.”

  
“What did he do that for? Was he reprimanded for his actions?”

  
“He was goofing around Dames,” Jon answered, rolling his eyes, “and yeah he got sent to the principal’s office but that’s not the point. The point is that if nobody knows what habibi means and they all think its a nickname, nobody will bat an eye and your tough guy loner routine will be safe.” Damian huffed but let go of his friend. The younger boy was right; there was no one who would know what the term meant. Jon himself didn’t even really know, despite his belief otherwise.

  
“Fine.” Damian grit out in concession. Jon smiled.

  
“Cool.” He said, grabbing his bag and trotting backwards towards his own hall. “I gotta get back to class, catch you later habibi!”

  
Damian waved curtly and walked on to his own class, ignoring the looks he got as he walked in late. He sat down at his desk wearing his signature expression which Todd crassly referred to as his “resting bitch face,” but secretly he was pleased, almost charmed. This was a secret, but it was one that he could (mostly) share with Jon, and that made his thoughts, if not his face, smile.

  


  


The word became almost a habit. Once he had realized that he was in fact safe from discovery, Damian had started to use the term of endearment as well, intentionally this time. The two used the word with each other as often as Dick used the word ‘dude’ with everyone else, addressing or alerting each other to something, tacking it onto the ends of sentences, droning it out in complaint or shouting it in praise. No one else understood but no one said anything about it either. If they wondered what it meant they kept their curiosity to themselves. The word was theirs. Jon had something fun and unique to call his friend, and Damian could tell Jon how he felt without ever truly letting him know. It was perfect.

Until it very nearly fell apart.

Damian was walking into the living room reading one of the case files he and his father were working on. Focusing on the problem before him, he was vaguely aware of Jon’s presence on the couch.

  
“Hey Dames, would you text Steph and tell her I said that her friend is wrong and chickens can fly a little bit. I’d do it myself but my phone died and I forgot my charger.”

  
“Sure thing habibi.” Damian replied absently as he kept walking.

  
“Habibi?” came a voice that made Damian stop cold. He looked up to see a sly grin spread across Jason’s face as the vigilante lounged silently in an armchair. He must have dropped by to help with a case or raid the pantry Damian thought. Whatever he was there to do, Damian hadn’t heard him come in. As he was the only one of his brothers trained by both Batman and the League as Damian had been, he was the only one who could sneak up on him. And the only one who spoke Arabic.

  
“It means friend!” Jon supplied happily, figuring that Damian’s brothers could be included in their circle of knowledge. Jason smiled even wider, not taking his eyes off of Damian.

  
“Oh does it?”

  
“Yes.” Damian growled with a look that told his older brother exactly what would befall him should he choose to correct Jon. Jason nodded, his smile never once faltering.

  
“Interesting.” He said. “Very interesting.”

  
“What do you want Todd?” Damian made no effort to hide his annoyance.

  
“Just thought I’d pop in and see if anything noteworthy had happened since the last time I dropped by.” He glanced quickly at Jon whom he knew was no longer paying attention, and then back to Damian. “And it would seem that there has.”

  
Damian scoffed and walked out of the room. Todd had better keep his mouth shut if he knew what was good for him, he thought. He didn’t really think Jason would tell, but the incident made him nervous nonetheless. He was just about to step into the empty kitchen when Jason once again got the jump on him and pulled them both into the room and behind the wall by the counter.

  
“Stop squirming Demon Brat.” Jason said as he let go of Damian and uncovered his mouth. Damian just glared up at him.

  
“Stop ambushing me in my own home!” he whispered angrily. Jason raised his hands in surrender.

  
“Alright alright that might not have been the most polite way to do this but I didn’t want you trying to wave me off cause you don’t like to talk about your feelings.”

  
“Feelings?” Damian snarled indignantly. “I-”

  
“Save it.” Jason cut him off. “I know you like to pretend you trained away all of your emotions and cut your heart out with a birdarang or whatever but you’re a thirteen year old kid with a chip on your shoulder and something to prove. And none of that gets rid of your emotions. Trust me.” Jason looked at his little brother. “I know. Nothing does. And believe it or not that's good.” Damian scoffed again and crossed his arms, but he didn’t push away.

  
“So what? Are you going to tell him what it means?” Damian asked, trying not to make eye contact.

  
“No, of course not.” Jason said. Damian looked up at him. “I’m not going to tell him your secret because it’s not mine to share. But I think that you should.” Damian tried to push down the sudden fear in his eyes but Jason recognized the flash in the familiar green. His own eyes softened slightly and he put a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “It’s not easy,” he said, “but I don’t think it’s supposed to be.” He flashed a grin at his little brother and winked. “What’s the point of doing something if it’s not a challenge, right.” The corners of Damian’s mouth twitched up so slightly that a less skilled detective would have missed it. Jason pressed on. “You should tell him how you feel Babybat. He’s a good kid, he’ll take it well. And hey, if he or somebody else had a problem with it I’m always just a phone call away.” Damian rolled his eyes and Jason smiled.

  
“I’ll take it under consideration.” Damian answered.

  
“That’s all I’m askin’.” Jason said with a grin. He walked backwards a few feet before grabbing a couple cookies off the tray on the counter and climbing up onto the kitchen sink. “Tell Alfred thanks for the cookies. And tell Dick he’s a dweeb.” Damian nodded as Jason opened the window and pulled himself through. “Later Lil’ D,” he called and then he disappeared.

  
Damian sighed and shut the window. He walked back into the living room and saw Jon talking to his eldest brother.

  
“Hey Lil’ D!” Dick chirped brightly. Damian nodded.

  
“Todd says you are a dweeb.” Jon laughed and Dick gasped in mock offense. Damian smiled slightly and shook his head. “I’m going to bed.” He announced. “I want to get an early start on Father and I’s case tomorrow and I need to be sufficiently rested for the job.”

  
“Okay,” Dick smiled, “sweet dreams Dami.”

  
“Goodnight habibi.” Jon said warmly.

  
“Goodnight.” Damian answered and walked upstairs to his room. He could hear Dick offer to teach Jon how to do a kick the boy had asked him about a few days earlier before he flew home. Jon excitedly agreed and started babbling on about how awesome it had looked, a lot like Dick himself tended to do. Damian smiled, thinking that that was probably why Jon and Dick got along so well despite the difference in their ages and no family ties. Once again Damian sighed. He had no real intention of investigating any earlier in the morning than he usually did, but Jason’s advice was gnawing at him. He needed time to think about it away from anyone else, and alone in his room seemed like the best option available.

  
He didn’t sleep much that night, instead fixating on whether or not he should follow Jason’s advice. He tried to convince himself that opening up and showing such vulnerability was an unnecessary risk unfit of a warrior. The problem with that was that he would have to admit to himself that his feelings for Jon were not only more than a childish crush, but in fact strong enough to break him. It was this line of thinking that troubled him the most. He was trained to be stronger than any opponent, including himself. What did it say about him if something like emotions could defeat him?

  
He shook his head. He had been told most of his life that feelings were something to get rid of. And he had believed it. But in the time since coming to live in Gotham, he had started to hear different opinions. He thought about what Jason had told him in the kitchen, that nothing could get rid of feelings. The League thought otherwise, but Jason had been trained by the League. He knew all of their teachings and even excelled in them. Yet he still felt. Damian thought about his father and how his feelings drove him as a warrior, and how Dick, someone Damian admired perhaps above anyone else, never once hid behind a mask of indifference. Dick felt deeply and truly, and most importantly he felt openly. Dick embraced emotion, and there was no one more trusted in the hero community, and no one more effective in the field. Even Tim let his emotions guide him, using impeccable logic to solve mysteries, but in the critical moments that held the power of life and death making judgement calls based on what he felt instead of always on what he knew. They all used their emotions to their advantage, and each of them loved fearlessly.

  
Damian wrestled with the conflicting ideas of his trainings, and laughed bitterly at how often he found himself in this position: wondering whether to hold onto what he’d been taught or to let go and embrace something new. If he was honest with himself this was not even the first time he had asked himself this very question. He closed his eyes and sighed. He knew that he was not going to come to an answer tonight. It was going to take a lot more time to find the end of this labyrinth, and he worried that he never would. Either way, he was tired and he needed to get some sleep. He started reciting the names of the streets in Gotham, a trick Tim had taught him to keep away intrusive thoughts and better his knowledge of the terrain at the same time, and within a few minutes he was asleep.

  


  


He awoke the next morning to the sun in his eyes and sat up in confusion. He walked downstairs and saw his father sitting at the kitchen table.

  
“Morning kiddo.” Bruce said with a smile.

  
“Good morning Father.” Damian answered. “Why did you not wake me for school?” he asked. He had realized instantly from the sun’s unfamiliar position on his bed that it was much later in the day than he normally woke up, but he had yet to come up for any reason for it. Bruce took a sip of his coffee.

  
“When you didn’t wake up on your own like usual I peeked in. Your sheets were all tangled like you’d been fighting in your sleep, so I figured you were probably still exhausted and just let you sleep.” Damian blinked.

  
“Thank you.” He said blankly, not entirely sure what to make of the situation. Bruce just nodded and Damian sat down at the table as well. Alfred materialized seemingly out of nowhere with a basket of muffins.

  
“Goodmorning Master Damian.” He said as he offered the youngest Wayne one of the breakfast pastries.

  
“Good morning Pennyworth.” He took a muffin and smiled. Cranberry. His favorite. The two Waynes ate in comfortable silence for a while. This was not an uncommon occurrence between them, so it came as a slight surprise when Bruce broke it unprompted.

  
“So,” he started, immediately gaining his son’s attention. “Is everything alright?” Damian swallowed the bite of muffin he had been chewing.

  
“Everything is fine Father.” he answered, unsure of where this conversation could be going. Was there something he knew that Damian himself did not? Or was this just concern that he might be having nightmares? His father knew that Damian was no stranger to them, but Damian knew that neither was his father, or anyone else in the house.

  
“Your sheets and the dark circles under your eyes suggest otherwise.”

  
“I am not having nightmares Father.” Damian said quickly. “Despite appearances I did not fight anything in my sleep last night.” Bruce nodded and took another sip of coffee.

  
“What about while you were awake?” Damian froze. His father knew that he had not been on patrol last night. That wasn’t what he was asking about.

  
“I don’t know what you mean.” Damian lied. Bruce seemed to appraise his son, but he once again nodded calmly.

  
“Alright.” He said. “Just know that you can talk to me if you want to.” He stood up before adding, “Or him too.” Damian’s head snapped up from his muffin.

  
“What?” He stammered. Bruce smiled with just a touch of smugness.

  
“My Arabic is not as bad as you seem to think.” He said as he walked out of the room. Turning around in the doorway to look at his youngest son, who was turning a deep shade of red, Bruce spoke warmly. “I’ve found that hiding how you feel tends to lead down some pretty tricky paths, especially with people you work with. Don’t make my mistakes. Say something.” He walked out of the room leaving Damian at the table to think about what he’d said.

  


  


Damian spent the day thinking about what to do and by the time that school let out he had made a decision. Jon had agreed to come over that afternoon and after Damian had texted him that he was still available to hang out despite not having been at school the two had agreed to keep the plans. Damian sat in the living room feeling both nervous and excited as he waited to hear the swoosh of Jon’s landing outside. He was going to tell him the truth. What he didn’t know was that he was too late.

  
He was at the front door almost immediately after he heard Jon land. He threw it open and let the other boy in.

  
“Hello.” Damian said, with just the slightest tremor in his voice.

  
“Habibi.” Jon said, but it didn’t sound like a greeting. Damian frowned slightly, confused. Jon pulled out his phone and handed it to Damian. Damian stood, staring at the screen. He was completely still. “We had a project in class today,” Jon continued. “We had to do research on a language and chose some common words to investigate the etymology of. I picked Arabic.” Damian still had not moved. All he could see was the screen in front of him displaying an Arabic to English dictionary.

Habibi  
“My love”  
Sometimes translated as “my beloved” or “my darling”  
Pet name commonly used for significant others, family, or friends

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jon asked. Damian was reeling. The panic was starting to set in. Desperately he pointed to the part of the webpage that said that the term could be used for friends and opened his mouth to try to talk his way out of this mess, but Jon cut him off. “Don’t.” he said, and held up a hand. Damian stopped. “Don’t try to wriggle out of this with some clever technicality. Maybe you would have been that nervous the first time you said it if that’s how you had meant it but I don’t think so. And I know you didn’t use it wrong” Damian just stood there, gaping at Jon as the boy called his bluffs. Jon reached out and put his hand on his best friend’s shoulder as his voice softened into something almost like concern, almost like desperation. “Just tell me the truth.”

  
Damian looked up with glassy eyes and his voice broke.

  
“I’m sorry.” Jon’s face looked shocked and Damian continued on, unable to stop. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I didn’t want you to know the truth. I thought you’d think I was weak or that I was broken, or worse,” he took a deep breath, “I thought you might hate me. I didn’t mean to say it and then I just panicked, and then you thought it was fun and we fell into this habit and I was going to tell you I really was I was going to tell you today and I didn’t want you to find out this way and I’m sorry and-”

  
“Woah, Damian, Damian!” Jon interjected. He put his free hand on Damian’s other shoulder to stabilize him and shook him lightly. “Damian, hey, look at me. It’s okay.” He said. Damian looked him in the eyes and swallowed. He didn’t believe him. Jon sighed and let go of his shoulders. “I’m not mad at you Damian.”

  
“You’re not?” Damian asked quietly, skeptical.

  
“No.” Jon assured him. “I’m not. I get it. Crushes are…” he waved his hand around trying to think of the right word before giving up. “Crushes are hard. You don’t wanna say anything cause they might not like you too and then it’s a whole big thing and you’ll be embarrassed and you’ll still have to see them in like the hall or at lunch and it’s awkward and you’re nervous and it just,” he looked back at Damian and sighed. “It’s just scary.” Damian continued to look at him, not sure how he should respond. Jon kept going, trying to get Damian to say something. “Basically, I know that crushes are weird and can make you do stuff you wouldn’t normally do. I get it.”

  
“You do?” Damian finally asked.

  
“Yeah,” Jon said. “But I do still wish you had told me.” Damian hung his head and Jon rushed to add “But I’m glad that you were gonna tell me! I mean I kinda jumped the gun on that with the whole project thing and the dictionary but you were gonna and I’m glad about that.” Damian sighed. “Come on,” Jon said, “let’s go sit down.”

  
The two walked to the screening room where they usually hung out. Damian sat on one of the bean bags and much to his chagrin, Jon sat on the floor next to him. Even now there’s no keeping him from trailing along like a puppy Damian thought, smiling slightly to himself. Then he sighed.

  
“I’m sorry I made you use a word you didn’t know the meaning of.” He said. Jon rolled his eyes.

  
“You didn’t make me do anything Damian. I thought it was cool so I said it.”

  
“Still. I should have told you what it meant, especially when you started saying it.” He looked down at his knee, running over the bent seam with his fingernail. “I guess I just liked to pretend, sometimes, that you were saying it the way I was, for real.” He glanced up at the wall and then back down to his knee. “I’ll stop calling you that now. I won’t make it awkward.” He heard Jon shift slightly next to him. There was a pause before Jon said,

  
“What if...I don’t want you to stop?”

  
“What?” Damian asked, positive he must have heard him wrong.

  
“What if,” Jon said, fidgeting with his hands and trying to mask the clear nervousness in his voice. “What if I wanted you to keep calling me habibi? And I wanted to keep calling you that back?” Damian was extremely confused as he tried to quiet the butterflies in his stomach. It really could be used for a friend, this didn’t mean that Jon...there was no way he was saying…

  
“Why?” Damian asked, voice barely above a whisper. Instead of saying anything, Jon hesitated a moment before suddenly moving forward with lightning speed. He kissed Damian on the cheek and withdrew just as quickly. Damian gasped and Jon ducked his head to hide a blush, as well as a shy smile. When he looked up at Damian it was the young Robin who ducked, and for the same reasons. They both laughed slightly, nervous but grinning as they stole glances at each other through newfound shyness.

  
After a while Damian managed to speak up. “So, um,” he started before giggling once again, setting Jon off as well. Pushing through it he continued. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

  
“Yeah,” Jon nodded with a dopey grin. Damian returned the expression, not caring whether or not it looked dignified. He put a disc in the player and turned around to see that Jon had moved to be sitting on the couch. A little hesitantly, Damian walked over and sat next to him. The boy smiled and a few minutes later moved his hand just a bit, putting it in Damian’s. Glancing at each other, they both smiled before quickly looking back at the screen with twin blushes. They stayed that way for the rest of the movie, sitting on the couch and smiling as they held hands.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy it! This story was partly inspired by a Tumblr post (which sadly I can't find) by the blog @incorrectbatfam in which Damian accidentally calls Jon habibi and when Jon asks what he said Damian says "how bout these?" I don't own DC comics or anything associated with it, nor do I own that blog or post, I just think that they're great :) Happy reading!


End file.
